Every day, new troops from the land of Yong and Si gathered in Yunshe City. New military camps were built outside the city stretching for ten miles, and the sound of drills was heard from morning to night.
In Nanxin City, Shen Tianzi learned that a large number of Yong Army reinforcements had arrived, and he was anxious. The longer time passed, the more obvious Yang Anxuan's advantage would be. If this continues, Jiangxia County might be recaptured by Yang Anxuan.
Wang Zhongde received an urgent report from Shen Tianzi and frowned when he learned that the Yong army in Yunshe City had increased its troops to more than 20,000. A few days ago, Yuqiu sent people to report and found out that about 5,000 to 6,000 Yong navy troops were stationed at Hengsangkou. Originally, he was planning to send out naval forces to clear out the Yongzhou navy and drive away the Yongzhou navy, so as to clear the gap between Xiakou and Anlu. of waterways.
Jiukou is an important traffic thoroughfare, and Yu Qiujin requested that the water village be rebuilt, which seemed inevitable. Wang Zhongde thought for a long time and then ordered: "Let Zhu Lingxiu come."
After a while, Zhu Lingxiu came in to see the ceremony. Wang Zhongde said: "I have ordered Yu Qiujin to build a new water stronghold at Jingkou. Lingxiu can lead three thousand troops and horses, recruit ten thousand servants, erect beacon towers from Anlu City along both sides of Jingshui, and build rammed towers at the narrow places on the river." Set up catapults and ballistae to guard it."
Zhu Lingxiu knew that the Yong Army in Yunshe City was increasing its troops and that the western front was tight. He clasped his fists and said, "Please rest assured, General Wang, Yu will implement it as soon as possible. The Yong Army's navy is not large in number. With the combined efforts of Yu and General Yu, General Wang will not be allowed to have access to the south." worry."
In Yunshe City, Yang Anxuan ordered Shen Qingzhi to be his general and led 4,000 old soldiers and 8,000 new troops to seize Nanxin City. He also asked Yonggong Mansion Gong Cao Shen Military and Gong Cao Zhang Gang to accompany the reinforcements.
Yang Anxuan told Shen Qingzhi that the main purpose of attacking Nanxin City was to train troops, and there was no need to rush to seize the city. The priority was to preserve the lives of the soldiers. On July 6, Shen Qing's army arrived at Southern Song City and set up camp.
Zhang Gang brought several newly developed siege equipment this time, and he was ambitious to use these weapons to build military exploits. During the Song-Yong War, Zhang Gang had full confidence in Yang Anxuan and would not be awarded a title unless he had merit in battle. He wanted to take this opportunity to make him a knight.
After learning that his lord was recruiting new troops to go to the front line, Zhang Gang volunteered to accompany the army to Yunshe City. Yang Anxuan knew that the Ordnance Department had developed a lot of new things during this period, and the ordnance must be used on the battlefield to be fully utilized.
Nanxinshi City was built in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It is different from Guoxinshi County in Zhongshan, so it is called Nanxinshi City. In the last years of Wang Mang, Wang Kuang and Wang Feng gathered here and hid in the green forest mountain, called Xinshi Bing. On the city wall, Shen Tianzi saw the Yong army on guard and encamped, and the long convoys of baggage were flowing like a long dragon. Seeing that the Yong army exceeded ten thousand people, the next battle would be fierce.
Looking at the fluttering flag of Yongying in the distance, Shen Tianzi thought that the city of Nanxin City is nearly three feet high and surrounded by a moat. There are six thousand soldiers and horses in the city. The city is only four miles around. During the war, the young and strong in the city can be driven to the city to cooperate To defend, the most important thing is that there is no shortage of food and grass, and there are enough materials to defend the city. It should be possible to hold on for a while.
On July 12, Yong's army began to attack the city.
The catapults were deployed three hundred steps outside the south gate. These catapults were re-developed based on the catapults improved by Cao Wei inventor Ma Jun. They could use a mechanism to drive the wooden wheel to rotate and remove dozens of stones from the edge of the wooden wheel. Stones were thrown continuously. When attacking Yao Qin's Lantian Pass, this kind of catapult caused the Qin army to run away.
Flying rocks rained like rain, and the crossbow bed used to defend the city was smashed. The Song army soldiers huddled on the battlements and did not dare to poke their heads. The leather curtain that was stretched out at the top of the city was quickly smashed to pieces, and the entire West City was trembling in the rain of stones.
The stone rain has not stopped, the drums are beating, and the siege equipment such as moat bridges, city rush vehicles, nest vehicles, trammel vehicles, and ladders are moving slowly and firmly towards the city wall like monsters.
When Shen Tianzi saw that the Yong army stopped throwing stones, he loudly shouted at the soldiers who were lying under the battlement to get up and defend. He prepared stones, rolling logs, boiling oil and other objects, and fired bows and arrows at the Yong army who was driving the "monster" gradually closer.
These siege equipment were all improved by Zhang Gang. The ladder body is closed, with six wheels placed underneath, and a movable "auxiliary ladder" is added in addition to the main ladder; when climbing the city, the ladder has two upper and lower sections, which can move freely along the city wall. Moving up and down, people no longer need to carry it on their shoulders; the city ramming vehicle tilts the flat top and turns the top into a triangular roof, which can avoid damage by stone arrows; the shield that protects the soldiers moving forward is covered with cowhide, and the roof has two layers The middle of the leather fence is filled with more than a foot of hay to protect against stones. The leather fence is hung on both sides and coated with mud to protect it from fire and arrows...
Zhang Gang and Shen Qingzhi stood side by side, looking at the slowly marching ordnance, and their hearts were full of pride. He was famous for manufacturing ordnance during the (Southern) Yan Dynasty, but he was regarded by the court ministers as a miraculous and obscene skill, and the monarch Nor does it take it seriously. After defecting to his lord, Zhang Gang was delighted to find that his lord valued him. He often went to the Ordnance Department with him to discuss new types of ordnance and came up with many ingenious ideas, which inspired him deeply.
Many of these inventions were inspired by Ma Jun, a doctor from Cao Wei. Zhang Gang admired Ma Jun very much and felt ashamed of himself. Ma Jun invented many things in his life but was not taken seriously by others. Many of his discoveries were even gradually lost. It was a pity that the Lord told him that .
How lucky he is to meet the Master of the Ming Dynasty. Only the Master can really put his talents and knowledge to use. Looking at the towers in the distance, Zhang Gang stroked his beard and smiled. Nanxin City, Anlu City, Xiakou City, and In the end, Jiankang City will fall under these powerful weapons.
The moat bridge was erected on the moat, the city rush vehicle "rolled" over and hit the city wall, the ladder stretched out its long arm and rested on the city wall, and the recruits began to climb up amid the shouts of the veterans.
Arrows were shot and stones were thrown from the city wall. Soldiers on the ladders were hit by arrows and fell to the ground. The city-carrying vehicles were smashed by stones and collapsed. War drums, whistles, shouts and cries of pain came together, and the water in the moat turned bloody.
Half an hour later, the gong sounded, and Yong's army began to retreat, leaving behind several broken city assault vehicles and dozens of casualty soldiers under the city wall. After the siege equipment was withdrawn to the camp, Zhang Gang immediately took the craftsmen to inspect the damage in order to make improvements.
In the afternoon, the Yong army launched another attack. Shen Tianzi saw at the top of the city that the Yong army sent out only a thousand soldiers and horses to attack the city, and the offensive was not fierce. He became suspicious and ordered the defending soldiers to save their weapons. The Yong army attacked for half a month. Time, retreated again.
The next day, while Chong Qing sent out catapults to attack the city, he also ordered people to dig ditches to divert the water from the moat and fill it up. Shen Tianzi wanted to lead his army out of the city to charge, but when he saw the Yong cavalry waiting in formation a few miles away, he finally gave up his plan to leave the city.
In the next five or six days, Yong's army continued to launch attacks, and sometimes launched night attacks at night. Shen Tianzi did not dare to slack off at all, so he slept under the city wall and had his soldiers wake him up every hour to patrol. city. Shen Tianzi discovered that the Yong Army seemed to be using the siege to train troops. The Yong Army's offensive became more and more sharp, and the siege weapons had also been improved and made more suitable.
Starting from the eighth day, Yong soldiers had already climbed to the top of the city. Although they finally held the top of the city, they were still surrounded by dangers. Stones were thrown outside the city wall to create large and small holes, many battlements were smashed, and the ground on the city wall became pitted. After fighting for a long time, the defenders became nervous and their morale began to decline.
The Yong army's siege equipment was sharp. Although Shen Tianzi tried his best to boost morale, he knew that the defenders were not as strong as they were. If reinforcements did not arrive, Nanxin City would probably be breached sooner or later.
On July 18, Wang Zhongde sent a message asking Shen Tianzi to abandon Nanxin City and withdraw to Anlu City within five days. He would send troops to meet him at the foot of Qiao Mountain, more than thirty miles away.
Shen Tianzi looked at the map and calculated. Anlu City and Nanxin City are more than 70 miles apart, and Qiao Shan is in the middle. If we move more than 30 miles away from Nanxin City, if we abandon the baggage and move forward lightly, two people The time should be reached. However, Yong Jun could not let him leave calmly, and he had seen many Qingqi in Yong's army at the top of the city in the past few days. If Qingqi came to chase him, his subordinate Erlang might not be able to reach Qiaoshan.
After occupying Nanxin City, Shen Tianzi sent people to survey the terrain within a radius of twenty miles. Eight miles eastward there was a fork of the river. The river was only three feet deep and could be forded. There were large reeds and miscellaneous trees on both sides of the river bank. Shen Tianzi had a plan in mind and sent people to sneak out of the city at night to make arrangements first.
On the ugly day of July 20th, the north gate of Nanxin City quietly opened. Shen Tianzi led dozens of ox carts with soldiers and horses out of the city and headed east. The carts were equipped with clay pots containing Danhuo, weighing two thousand kilograms.
The Yong army was stationed in the south of the city, but secret sentries were posted at the other three gates to monitor it. The soldiers and horses in the city opened the north gate and were immediately detected.
A quarter of an hour later, Shen Qingzhi woke up and immediately called a secret sentry to inquire about the situation. He learned that there were four to five thousand troops leaving the city. Shen Qingzhi estimated that Shen Tianzi was about to escape.
With his sight blocked at night, Shen Qingzhi did not rush to catch up, but ordered an attack on the city. He mobilized an army of 6,000 to attack the city from the east, west and south.
They had launched three night attacks in the past few days, and the soldiers were relatively calm. When they came to the edge of the city, they saw firelight swaying on top of the city, but no arrows were fired. Shen Qingzhi became more and more sure that Song Gong had really left.
The ladder was set up, and the soldiers easily climbed to the top of the city. There were only some young men recruited from the top of the city. When they saw Yong's army, they squatted on the ground with their heads in their hands.
The city gate opened. Shen Qingzhi was afraid that Shen Tianzi would set up an ambush in the city, so he did not rush into the city. He asked the soldiers who boarded the city to search if there was anything strange in the city. He also asked the people on the city. After it was confirmed that there was nothing wrong, it was already Yin time. , it has been more than half an hour since Duke Song left.
Shen Qingzhi was not in a hurry to catch up. Most of the Song troops who escaped were infantry, and they could not go very far at night. Even though they had gone for more than half an hour, it only took him two-quarters of an hour to catch up with his light cavalry.
With Shen Tianzi's resourcefulness, it would be impossible without a countermeasure. Shen Qingzhi estimated that the Song army was setting up an ambush in secret, hoping to use the night to surprise and win. After thinking for a moment, Shen Qingzhi sent a dozen groups of light cavalry to inquire about the Song army's movements.
At Mao hour, the sky is getting brighter. When the people of Nanxin City saw that the Yong-character flag was replaced on the city wall, they rushed to tell each other, cooked corn porridge and steamed cakes to pay for the army.
The reconnaissance cavalry reported back one after another. The Song army fled more than ten miles east. It was seen that the number of people was four to five thousand, and dozens of ox carts were in the team. According to detailed reports, the number of soldiers and horses leaving the city was between four and five thousand. It seemed that the Song army was in a hurry to leave, and even if they set up an ambush, there would not be too many people.
After a hurried breakfast, Shen Tianzi left Zhang Gang to deal with the people in the city, and took two thousand light cavalry to catch up with the Song army. He asked his general Zhang Lin to lead five thousand infantry to follow. If everything went well, he would simply send troops to Anlu City. .
